I happily write this review OF THE FLAGSHIP STORE as a customer, as a Mainer, and as a former employee. The ownership knows that the Freeport LL Bean location has become more than just a typical retail store: It's a necessity for local hunters, campers and insomniacs alike. A weekend destination to look forward to for fellow New Englanders. An exciting experience for customers who have shopped via the catalog or online for decades, but have never before made the pilgrimage to Freeport. Employees go through extensive customer service to make sure that every customer - coming from both Brunswick down the road or from all the way across the world -has a very genuine and human interaction with the store. As LL Bean himself once said, 'the customer is not an interruption of our work, but the reason for it.'
As a customer, I've always been treated with the utmost courtesy - and better customer service than one can expect from a typical retail store. If they can right a service wrong they will go out of their way (within reason) to honor their satisfaction guarantee.
Even if I don't always buy something, I love to walk through the store, crawl through the tents, play with the camping gadgets, try on the new coats...it's like the adult outdoorsy version of 'Charlie & the Chocolate Factory.' It's been a late-night destination during my college years (usually either before or after a Denny's run on the weekends). More recently it's been a destination to take my out-of-town friends, who cannot believe a place like this actually exists.
While their outerwear always seems to be in fashion, I think their brand tends to target middle-aged people, as evidenced by the 'comfort-waist' pants/jeans, endless supply of turtlenecks, and other random items. And it tends to be J. Crew pricy. I understand and acknowledge the markup, as it is essentially subsidizing the additional employee training/pay and the loss incurred from returned items.
For those of you taking issue with the large amount of imported goods: I would LOVE to see you put your money down on an item that costs twice as much as LL Bean currently lists it for. That's (at least) what you would be paying, if most of these items were American made. Times have changed - deal with it.
As a Mainer, I'm proud that this company has been a backbone of the Maine economy and a huge supplier of jobs. LL Bean has always encouraged an ethical and sustainable interaction with the environment - the outdoors, after all, is Maine's greatest source of revenue, and should be viewed as a resource to be used responsibly and protected. I'm also happy to be associated with the Maine identity that LL Bean has helped to cultivate: outdoorsy, rugged, courteous, and reliable.
As a former employee, I can say that LL Bean has always treated me very well. There were times during LL Bean's initial expansion when loyalty was stretched thin, but it seems like the company is all the stronger for it. When I worked for the store during college, they were one of the highest paying jobs around for what I was doing (customer service). They hold their employees to a high standard, but are also very good about acknowledging the employees who went above and beyond by reading positive customer comments during department meetings. And then the benefits. Access to the employee store (returned items which are severely discounted), the employee rental store, and then huge employee discounts on full priced merchandise.
LL Bean, here's to another 100 years! read more